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Bethel College
Vol. 67, No. 11; April 10, 1992
Bethel Invaded!
by Junior Toby Arnott
On Friday, March 20, a comet-shaped
object descended from the sky into
Kresge Courtyard.
"Luckily no one was injured," Director
of Security Simon Swartzenegger comments about the incident. "It would have
been easy for someone to be sitting in
Kresge, admiring the sun and things,
when BOOM, all of a sudden this comet.
We can all be thankful that did not happen."
According to the Provost's Office,
thirteen students reported seeing the
comet. Senior Ann Jill Donalds was
outside by the PACE building when the
comet landed. She says, "I've been at
this school for four years and nothing
like this has ever happened before. I'm
glad I didn't miss it. This will make a
great addition to my journal."
"Ididn 't know who to notify, I thought
the Admissions Office was the most
common, sensible place to go," Junior
Hugh Asked says. "They did not believe
me when I told them, so I bade them look
out their window." Afterthat Asked states
that the Provost's Office was notified, as
was Bethel Security.
Bethel security and a Ramsey County
fire truck proceeded to extinguish the
flames which erupted after the impact at
three thirty Friday afternoon.
Schwartzeneggersays, "We did the best
we could with the fire extinguishers
available to us."
The process of putting out the fire
took twenty minutes, longer than was
expected by those involved. Problems
arose when about twenty students surrounded the area with sticks, marshmal-
lows, wieners, and cameras. Assistant
Director of Security Mannon Disguise
adds, "If it weren't for those meddling
kids, we could have gotten away with
putting it out in a matter of seconds."
"I saw it as a fun way to meet people
with similar interests," attending
sophomore Sandra Smillie explains.
When she and her friends discovered
that the purpose ofthe gathering was not
for a food service picnic, they decided to
put one together. "It was just an added
touch that the fire was already there."
When the fire was out, attention turned
to the object itself on Kresge Courtyard
lawn. Biology professors were notified
after the site was safe. Associate Professor
of Biology Samuel Whatsit describes the
object, "The comet appears to be fifty
feet in diameter. Right now it's cooling.
We'll have a better idea of what it is once
we can get a bit closer. Though we call it
a comet, that's just for clarification
purposes, [We 're] not just sure what it is,
really. We're keeping our eyes on it and
have two teaching assistants on guard
during the day. Security takes care of it at
night...We really don't know why it did
not bum up in the earth's atmosphere on
the descent. Some have suggested that it
fell at an angle and 'slid' in. We do not
have any answers yet."
The so-called comet appears to have
an "ashy black" surface and has steam
rising from it every few hours or so,
according to a physics teaching assistant
John Deanson. Taking three hour shifts,
he and the ten other teaching assistants
sit with notebooks in hand to record any
changes. The amount of steam released
each hour seems to be decreasing, but
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<resge courtyard was filled with a
d^ect being called a "comet" hit.
that is the only change noted. "That isn't
to say it can't hurt anybody. It could, we
just don't know that yet. We might never
know," Deanson further explains.
According to Whatsit, one ofthe more
interesting traits of the object is that it
completely molds to the form of the
steps in Kresge Courtyard. He uses this
illustration, "It's as if a huge wad of gum
were stuck on the steps and hasn't yel
been flattened by someone's shoe."
Students living in the townhouses and
in Nelson Residence report their first
impressions ofthe comet. "I just thought
it was a science experiment," junior Jeffrey Jires comments.
Senior Anna Obedea reports, "At first,
I thought it was a form of experimental
strange glow moments before the
temporary housing, and I wondered if it
wasn 't too late to move in, then I thought
it was a Habitat for Humanity project."
In addition to the ad hoc gala that
formed at the landing of the object, the
Bethel community has taken advantage
of the occurrence in other ways. The
bookstore is selling postcards, depicting
the best photographs of the object. "It's
a neat way to give recognition to those
people with photography skills and provide current postcards to the Bethel
community at the same time," Campus
Store Director Gloria O'Neil reports.
"Now I finally have something interesting to write my pen pals, and I even
have illustrations to go along with them,"
Obedea comments.
CC Profits From Comet
by Junior Mindy Lindy Bindy
This year there has been a problem
with low student turn-out for on-campus
events. Many students say that they are
simply tired of the "same old things."
Campus Coordinators has found something new to interest the lethargic student population with the arrival of the
comet in Kresge Courtyard.
"Well, it was just sitting there," says
sophomore Senate member Jimmy Bone.
"I was walking by looking at all of the
people, and thought 'Cool! We could
charge admission!'"
Campus Coordinator Suzie Candy
thought Bone had a great idea. "We
don't like usually charge much for stuff,
you know, but every little bit helps.
Everyone wanted to like see this comet
thing, so we thought like why not? We've
had a lot of turn out!"
The project has been by far the most
successful of all of the CC. events this
year. $1.00 was charged to look at the
object, and another $.50 was charged for
those who wanted to touch it. Unfortunately, Professor of Physics Brian Brain
put a halt to the second part of the CC.
plan. "We don't yet know what this
thing is. I thought we should really be
careful. It could be dangerous."
Candy was disappointed by the restriction, and says that the Coordinators
have had trouble keeping people from
touching it anyway. "I guess it's like not
that bad," she said. "If they [the students] want to like get some sort of space
Student volunteers helped put together publicity for the new CC.
event to see the object in Kresge Courtyard.
disease, I guess that's up to them, you
know?"
Security had to be called because some
students and staff members were sneaking peeks out their windows which face
Kresge Courtyard. "Nelson has been the
worst of the offenders," Security Officer
Nick Pistol says. "We were hoping for
more integrity from people, but I guess
curiosity just got the better of many
people. We on lhe security staff are
praying for them, and have set up a
special task force to watch the windows
and take down names of those who look
without paying. 23 people have been
written up. They have to pay a $2 fine."
Many students have been spending
much lime just standing and watching
the object. "I don't know why, but I can't
seem to pull myself away, from it. It's
really unique," says senior Mike Stare.
'I keep forgetting to go to class because
I come and pay my dollar and look at this
thing. It's sort of becoming aMecca type
thing or something."
"I'm really broke right now," freshman Lindsay Dinsey says, " so I just
brought my sleeping bag out here and
haven't left. It saves me from having to
pay every time I want to see the thing.
My roommate is sneaking me food from
the dining center—oops! Maybe I
shouldn't have said that."
Candy feels that people like Dinsey
are defeating the purpose of the fundraiser, but doesn't think anything can be
done about it. She said that next time
something like this happens, CC. will
have to set some sort of time restriction.
"It's like not really fair, you know? But
like what can you do?"

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Reproduction or distribution of these files is permitted for educational and research purposes with proper attribution to the Bethel Digital Library. No commercial reproduction or distribution of these files is permitted under copyright law without the written permission of Bethel University Digital Library. For questions or further information on this collection, contact digital-library@bethel.edu.

Bethel College
Vol. 67, No. 11; April 10, 1992
Bethel Invaded!
by Junior Toby Arnott
On Friday, March 20, a comet-shaped
object descended from the sky into
Kresge Courtyard.
"Luckily no one was injured," Director
of Security Simon Swartzenegger comments about the incident. "It would have
been easy for someone to be sitting in
Kresge, admiring the sun and things,
when BOOM, all of a sudden this comet.
We can all be thankful that did not happen."
According to the Provost's Office,
thirteen students reported seeing the
comet. Senior Ann Jill Donalds was
outside by the PACE building when the
comet landed. She says, "I've been at
this school for four years and nothing
like this has ever happened before. I'm
glad I didn't miss it. This will make a
great addition to my journal."
"Ididn 't know who to notify, I thought
the Admissions Office was the most
common, sensible place to go," Junior
Hugh Asked says. "They did not believe
me when I told them, so I bade them look
out their window." Afterthat Asked states
that the Provost's Office was notified, as
was Bethel Security.
Bethel security and a Ramsey County
fire truck proceeded to extinguish the
flames which erupted after the impact at
three thirty Friday afternoon.
Schwartzeneggersays, "We did the best
we could with the fire extinguishers
available to us."
The process of putting out the fire
took twenty minutes, longer than was
expected by those involved. Problems
arose when about twenty students surrounded the area with sticks, marshmal-
lows, wieners, and cameras. Assistant
Director of Security Mannon Disguise
adds, "If it weren't for those meddling
kids, we could have gotten away with
putting it out in a matter of seconds."
"I saw it as a fun way to meet people
with similar interests," attending
sophomore Sandra Smillie explains.
When she and her friends discovered
that the purpose ofthe gathering was not
for a food service picnic, they decided to
put one together. "It was just an added
touch that the fire was already there."
When the fire was out, attention turned
to the object itself on Kresge Courtyard
lawn. Biology professors were notified
after the site was safe. Associate Professor
of Biology Samuel Whatsit describes the
object, "The comet appears to be fifty
feet in diameter. Right now it's cooling.
We'll have a better idea of what it is once
we can get a bit closer. Though we call it
a comet, that's just for clarification
purposes, [We 're] not just sure what it is,
really. We're keeping our eyes on it and
have two teaching assistants on guard
during the day. Security takes care of it at
night...We really don't know why it did
not bum up in the earth's atmosphere on
the descent. Some have suggested that it
fell at an angle and 'slid' in. We do not
have any answers yet."
The so-called comet appears to have
an "ashy black" surface and has steam
rising from it every few hours or so,
according to a physics teaching assistant
John Deanson. Taking three hour shifts,
he and the ten other teaching assistants
sit with notebooks in hand to record any
changes. The amount of steam released
each hour seems to be decreasing, but
■•i:.' :■■.
>-Hi
■>^.Wi:''"*'tt'f ?"*;" #§*%?f " ,,,:- ■%&*.